Best looper?

[Rushfan2112]

I'm interested in a looper pedal for some Howie Day style loops, practicing, and playing solo. Out of the Digitech Jam Man, the Boss RC20XL and the Line6 DL4, what do you recommend? I like the DL4 for it's half speed mode, and how it's also a sweet delay pedal, but I've heard of some reliability issues. The others both do mic/aux in, so I wouldn't need two loopers for guitar/vocal loops, but I'd need a seperate delay pedal for them.

Any suggestions?

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Best looper?

I grew bored with the Line 6 as the loop time wasn't long enough for me, even in 1/2 speed mode. Just my two cents. I'm potentially looking for one that has a longer record time.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best looper?

wow, something I know a little bit about....
for howie day style loops, the Line6 DL4 is probably the best smaller looper, and in 1/2 speed mode, has 28 seconds of loop time, plenty for arhyhmic sonic mayhem. I have one, and 3 members of my band have been using them for loops for over 4 years, and have had no problems...they are also great delay pedals, auto-wahs, chorus, and overdrive waiting in the DL4- I recommend the expression pedal too. If you are not into looping full songs and chord progressions (which I am guessing you may not be, listening to Howie Day), this pedal is the best cheap looper out there.
All of the Boss loopers as well as the new JamMan have serious limitations as live loopers- they are mostly made for practicing rhythms, and really have a hard time with manipulations of loops in a live setting (you either need to buy extra pedals, or reach down and hit tiny buttons for reversing a loop, for example). I do not recommend either for the kind of on-the -fly looping you are looking for. Also, the extra price does not get you a feedback control, which is absolutely essential on a higher priced looper. How both companies missed this is insane. Feedback allows you to add new stuff to the loop as the older stuff fades away. Wonderful for constantly changing loops.

The Boomerang is a great looper too, but it is more expensive, and besides, a new version with a lot more features is coming out this winter.
I use an Echoplex Digital Pro for my loops, possibly the most full featured looper ever. It is expensive ($1k) but an amazing instrument.
Hey, check out my page for lots of info about how I use loops, and before you decide, check out www.loopers-delight.com, the place where crazy lopers like me hang out (as wll as the designers of various looping boxes).

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: Best looper?

lexicon jamman

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Best looper?

The best looper out there would probably be a toss up between the Echoplex and the Looperlative (I'd give the edge to the Echoplex because it's been around for a long time and has a proven reputation).

I just messed around with my singer/rhythm player's DL-4 today for an hour or so. It was fun, but the time really is pretty short. I haven't been fully satisfied with any decently priced looper yet, so I'm holding out for the new Boomerang that should be out by the beginning of '07.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best looper?

The old Lexicon JamMan, while it does work as a looper, is probably not the best choice, unless you already own one. They are about 15 years old, use an obsolete type of memory, and have very limited live control over the loop. They usually can't be found cheap (old users generally install the unoffical upgrade, which expands capability) and they are almost always pitched to loopers on the Looper's Delight mailing list first.

I love the specs of the Looperlative, but as it is software based, it is a little buggy, and all features aren't currently supported. It is also made by 1 guy, 1 at a time, so it is very expensive for now.

Being a looper for over 15 years, most of my loops are less than 20 seconds. But I find little use in playing through an entire song into the looper.